Gourmet Food Trucks in Chicago?

[Drover]

Why not?

[j33]

Originally Posted by grapico

I am aware of the gourmet food trucks in LA... I am just not sure if that is a good thing to be tweeting about where you are going to be that day then have everybody drive there...

Who says they are going to drive there? I'd probably just want to know what truck was close by so I can walk over and get lunch or dinner.

[tonythetuna]

News on the mobile food truck issue:

"Every dollar I lose in sales to a food truck down the street costs me 50 cents in profit," said Dan Rosenthal, owner of Sopraffina Marketcaffe and Trattoria No. 10 restaurants. "It doesn't take a lot of decline in sales for restaurants to go out of business, particularly in this economy."

Ordinance Turns Restaurant Owners' Stomachs | NBC Chicago

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. It's people like this that need to go out of business. I'll have a drink to that if they do.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

News on the mobile food truck issue:

"Every dollar I lose in sales to a food truck down the street costs me 50 cents in profit," said Dan Rosenthal, owner of Sopraffina Marketcaffe and Trattoria No. 10 restaurants. "It doesn't take a lot of decline in sales for restaurants to go out of business, particularly in this economy."

Ordinance Turns Restaurant Owners' Stomachs | NBC Chicago

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. It's people like this that need to go out of business. I'll have a drink to that if they do.

I saw that on WindyCitizen. I especially agreed with the one comment there - if a sit down steakhouse has problems competing with a food truck, something is seriously amiss.

[tonythetuna]

A bit more news:

"an ordinance to allow them on the streets of Chicago has been placed on the back burner until after the mayoral election. Meantime, Evanston has moved forward with legalization of the trucks, so CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole took a look at how they work."

Hot Food Trucks On Back Burner In Chicago « CBS Chicago

[tygayolo415]

Why not?

For one thing, I can tell you from firsthand experience in L.A. that due to the dynamic location nature of these mobile businesses, unforeseen problems can come about due to the fact that if it locates in a public space, that space wasn't well designed to handle hoards of folks coming to visit the business. Vehicular and foot traffic issues can easily become an issue. Trash on the street and loitering are more likely to result when these businesses drop temporary anchor.

Secondly, it's more difficult to regulate a mobile business than it is to regulate a fixed one. This includes the sanitary and legal realm. These trucks can literally get away from the law.

It's not in the best interest of a community to have businesses operate which have no vested interest other than an occasional parking space. A business which by its very nature is fixed will have more incentive to serve the neighborhood by which it is a part of. Food trucks are simply not subject to the same set of conditions by which fixed businesses must abide by.

On the other hand, it is possible that an under-served community could benefit from a gourmet food truck bringing commerce among other things to the area. My experience in L.A. is that they don't locate in under-served areas but rather business parks, mixed-use and high-traffic commercial areas.

I think the city of Chicago has good reason to approach this with caution. If they are to allow it, it would be in the best interest of the city to set some specific conditions.